Skelos Pension To Top $95K
The pension for former Senate Majority Dean Skelos will top $95,000 a year, according to a final pension calculation from the state comptroller’s office.
Skelos was forced from office in December after he and his son were found guilty of federal felony corruption charges.
The comptroller’s office on Wednesday said the elder Skelos’s gross monthly pension will be $7,985.96, giving him an annual pension of $95,843.52.
Skelos formally filed for retirement a week after his conviction, Dec. 22. His date of retirement was effective Jan. 2.
Skelos final pension comes after former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is due to receive about $79,000 a year. Silver in November was convicted on fraud and bribery charges and also forced to leave office as a result.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office prosecuted both cases, has in the past sought to claw back some of the pension benefits of public officials convicted of corruption.
State lawmakers are at odds over a constitutional amendment that would strip public officials convicted of felony corruption of their pensions.
The GOP-led Senate approved an agreed-upon version of the legislation last March, but Assembly Democrats raised concerns over whether the language was too broad. The Assembly, over GOP objections, later approved a separate constitutional amendment.
